Hassan Ammar / AP
Supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi clash on the 6 October bridge, near Maspero, Cairo, Friday.
By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News
The United States should stop sending military aid to Egypt following the overthrow of its democratically elected president by the military, Senator John McCain said, as overnight street battles left at least 30 dead across the divided country.
Egypt?s military insists that ousting Islamist Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday was the will of the people as expressed by mass demonstrations calling for him to go.
Secretary of State John Kerry approved $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Egypt ? the second largest recipient of such help after Israel ? only two months ago.
However, U.S. law prohibits financial assistance to any country whose elected head of state is deposed in a military coup.
For hours, there was no security in sight as the fighting ensued. Guns, stones and even fireworks were used as weapons but Morsi's supporters were driven back by the anti-Morsi demonstrators, and the military. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
Cairo's emblematic Tahrir Square and nearby approaches to the River Nile ? which were the focus of anti-Morsi demonstrations -- were largely empty early Saturday but were strewn with debris.
Thousands of Morsi's Islamist supporters marched to the area Friday demanding his reinstatement but ended up fleeing under a hail of stones, fireworks and sometimes gunfire.
Heath Ministry official Khaled el-Khatib told The Associated Press that 30 people were killed and some 210 wounded in violence across the country.
Morsi?s Muslim Brotherhood movement said the country had returned to the days of military rule under former President Hosni Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood was a banned organization for much of his rule.
"It's the old police state of Mubarak with every ingredient and nightmare that it had before the January 25 revolution. It's as if we hit the reset button,? Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters.
The Brotherhood?s website said some 3 million people had taken part in pro-Morsi demonstrations.
Hassan Ammar / AP
Days of massive protests and a military ultimatum forced the country's first democratically elected president from office.
It issued four demands late Friday: Morsi?s return to office; the cancellation of all ?unconstitutional coup-related decisions, decrees and actions announced by the military council with which it usurped power;? the reinstatement of the constitution; and for officials to be held accountable for the killing of protesters and other ?oppressive tactics.?
The U.S. has avoided calling Morsi?s ouster a coup, which would mean aid would have to be suspended.
But, speaking in Prescott, Arizona, McCain said, ?I say that with great reluctance, but the United States of America I think must learn the lessons of history and that is: We cannot stand by without acting in cases where freely elected governments are unseated by the military arm of those nations.?
He said he believed U.S. aid had to be suspended, and called on the Egyptian military to set a timetable for elections and a new constitution.
?Then we should evaluate whether to continue the aid or not,? he said. ?I am aware that by suspending aid to the Egyptian military, which is the only stable institution in Egypt, we are risking further problems in the Sinai, and in other areas of cooperation with the Egyptian military.?
State-owned newspapers said the army-backed authorities would announce the appointment of a prime minister on Saturday to run the country during a transition period, Reuters reported. Former U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, 71, a leading liberal politician, was seen as the most likely candidate to lead an administration focused on reviving a shattered economy and restoring civil peace and security.?
The U.S. State Department condemned the violence Friday.
Thousands of people marched in support of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who is being held at an army barracks near the airport. The clashes continued in Cairo, Alexandria and Sinai where the army was on high alert. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
?We call on all Egyptian leaders to condemn the use of force and to prevent further violence among their supporters,? spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
?The voices of all who are protesting peacefully must be heard - including those who welcomed the events of earlier this week and those who supported President Morsy,? she added. ?The Egyptian people must come together to resolve their differences peacefully, without recourse to violence or the use of force."
The chaotic scenes that played out in the capital, mostly on a bridge leading to Tahrir, ended overnight only after the army rushed in with armored vehicles to separate the warring groups. Some of Morsi's opponents jumped on at least one vehicle to try to show that the military was on their side.
Across the country, clashes erupted as Morsi supporters tried to storm local government buildings or military facilities, battling police or Morsi opponents.
Islamists descended on anti-Morsi rally, opening fire with guns in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, where at least 12 people were killed, mostly Morsi opponents, emergency services official Amr Salama said.
One man was stabbed and thrown from the roof of a building by Morsi supporters after he raised an Egyptian flag and shouted insults against the ousted president, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Friday's turmoil began in the afternoon when army troops opened fire as hundreds of his supporters marched on the Republican Guard building in Cairo. That site is where Morsi was staying when he was toppled before being taken into military custody at an undisclosed location.
The crowd approached a barbed wire barrier where troops were standing guard. When one person hung a sign of Morsi on the barrier, soldiers tore it down and told the crowd to stay back. A protester put up a second sign, and the soldiers opened fire, according to an AP photographer.
The Health Ministry said a total of four were killed at the site, though it was not known how all died.?
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published on Sat Jul 6, 2013 4:17 AM EDT
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